Friday, 10 June 2011

Union Pacific Overland Route

This is a fold-out card of the type dismissed by postcard collectors as beyond the pale. But, when they’re good, like this one, they are little packets of visual delight. The ones to avoid are devoted to the dubious pleasures of such places as the Bunga-Bunga Apple Blossom Parkway or the Coypu National Memorial. Until 1963 the Overland Route ran from Omaha to San Francisco and the folder offers portraits of some of the stations encountered en route and some rather dull generic views of outdoor activities, not shown here. Union Pacific is a monster among railroads. Passenger trains ceased in 1971 but as a carrier of freight it remains the largest railroad in the US. Alone among major railroads it has employed the same colour scheme for locomotives since 1934. The favoured colour is known as Armour Yellow having been pioneered by the Armour Meat Company on refrigerated cars. Finally we have two examples of corporate advertising showing some confusion about the demographic.